Russia - dam tragedy

Medvedev admits Russian technology lag

Article published on the 2009-08-24 Latest update 2009-08-25 05:35 TU

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tours the damaged Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station
(Photo: Reuters)

In a rare, high-level acknowledgement of problems in modern Russia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told officials that last week's deadly accident at the country's biggest hydroelectric power plant was due to a technological lag.

"The only truth here is this. Our country is technologically very far behind," Medvedev said.

He also blamed the Sayano-Shushenskaya dam disaster, which killed 75, on a "brain-drain" - when the best scientists left Russia in the latter part of the 20th century.

Medvedev called the dam accident, which flooded a turbine hall at the hydroelectric power plant in Siberia, an "unprecedented technological disaster".

Medvedev spoke to officials in Ulan Ude, capital of the Siberian region of Buryatia. Russia usually touts its superior technology, which had included the 1960's-era Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam, hailed as a triumph of Soviet engineering.

The dam has been completely shut since the disaster, and officials say it will take three years before all repairs can be made.

"The protective stock that had been created in Soviet times has been depleted," said Medvedev. "We should openly admit this. The question of qualified personnel is at the forefront," he added.

Medvedev has called for an "immediate modernisation" of Russia's infrastructure.

Some critics have called the dam disaster the "Chernobyl of the 21st century", referring to the 1986 large-scale nuclear accident.

Medvedev was quick to point out, however, that Russia is not on the brink of an imminent collapse. A radical group on Friday had said they had detonated an anti-tank grenade, causing the flooding, but investigators refuted this, saying the dam accident was of a "technical nature."